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Saturday, November 17, 2012

'Shambolic' police commissioner poll blasted as under 14 per cent bother to vote in Greater Manchester

Polling station on Liverpool Road remained very quiet

Widespread voter apathy has undermined the announcement of Greater
Manchester first elected police chief, due later today, with fewer than
one in seven bothering to cast their vote.
The region went to the polls yesterday to choose a
£100,000-a-year police and crime commissioner (PCC) – who will have the
power to set police budgets and priorities and hire or fire the chief
constable.
The count is not due to take place until this afternoon.
But turnout figures show that fewer than 15 per cent cast their
vote in all but one of the ten local authority areas in Greater
Manchester. The overall turnout figure was 13.9 per cent.

Authority

PCC turnout %

Wigan

11.4

Rochdale

12.1

Manchester

12.5

Oldham

12.6

Salford

13.1

Stockport

13.7

Bolton

14.2

Tameside

14.2

Bury

14.5

Trafford

18.3

Gtr Mcr average

13.9

Turnout was highest in Trafford and and lowest in Wigan (11.4pc). In Manchester it was 12.5pc and in Oldham 12.6pc.
Similar PCC elections across the rest of the country reported
similarly low levels of participation – threatening to undermine the
democratic legitimacy of the winners.
Labour were quick to blame coalition ministers for failing to
properly publicise the votes for elected police chiefs. No
taxpayer-funded electoral leaflets were sent out, leaving many voters
complaining that they had no idea who their candidates were, or what
they stood for.
Jonathan Reynolds, Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, said: "I
think you cannot blame the candidates, who have put a lot of work into
it.
"You have to ask questions about the government. This was a flagship reform and the organisation has been shambolic.
"These are important jobs that are being replaced.
"I think the government has to tell us what their ambition was for the turnout."
Katie Ghose, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society,
said: "This election has been a comedy of errors from start to finish.
"Polling stations are standing empty because voters knew next to
nothing about the role, let alone the candidates they were expected to
pick from.
"The Home Office has operated under the assumption that 'if you
build it they will come'. Democracy just doesn't work that way. There
have been avoidable errors at every step, and those responsible should
be held to account."
Five candidates stood to be Greater Manchester's PCC, including
long-term Manchester Central MP Tony Lloyd (Labour), former policeman
Matt Gallagher (Lib Dem), senior councillor Michael Winstanley
(Conservative), barrister Steven Woolfe (UKIP), and magistrate Roy
Warren (Independent).
The results were expected to be announced at around 2pm.
M.E.N. readers took to Twitter to share their experiences of empty polling stations around the region.
One man - a caretaker at a polling station - reported seeing just four voters arrive during the whole morning.
Reader Robin Usher said he had been the fourth voter when he
turned up at Milnrow Cricket Club at 10.15am – more than three hours
after the polls opened. Other readers reported eerily quiet polling
stations everywhere from Monton in Salford to Buxton in Derbyshire.
Turnout was expected to be significantly higher in Manchester
Central – where a parliamentary by-election was also being held
yesterday.
The seat was vacated by Labour’s Tony Lloyd so he could stand for the post of PCC.
And voters in the Manchester ward of Ardwick had a THIRD vote,
too – with a council by-election on top of the parliamentary and PCC
polls.
At St Luke’s church hall in Ardwick, voters reported a distinct
lack of queues. Bilal Shafi, 34, said: “Voting is the most important
thing in life. This is the only tool we have to make our voices heard.
“There were less people than I expected in the polling station. But it’s a working day, so people might come later on.” http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1593867_shambolic-police-commissioner-poll-blasted-as-under-14-per-cent-bother-to-vote-in-greater-manchester

3 comments:

Since it has turned out that these "elections"are run on purely party political lines,such "independance"of all of the contenders,must be seriously doubted,in fact this comedy meerly integrates political control over the respective police forces,if anyone seriously believes that this is some kind of benefit to the ordinary Englishman they are not quite right in the head.How low does a turnout have to be before the result is declared invalid?surely ther must be such a threshhold,which might be usefull in future elections?